


A Noteworthy Difference

by T_5Seconds



Series: Worst Sunday Of My Life, But At Least I Met You [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T_5Seconds/pseuds/T_5Seconds
Summary: The butterfly effect. I'm pretty sure you're all familiar.This is a continuation of a series. If you haven't read the rest, it's not going to make much sense.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Phil Coulson & Natasha Romanov, Phil Coulson & Loki, Phil Coulson/Loki
Series: Worst Sunday Of My Life, But At Least I Met You [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988737
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	1. Thor: The Dark World

**Author's Note:**

> Some of the chapters are going to be very short. Sometimes, only small things change.
> 
> Also, "What'd I Miss" takes place during this. It ends during this too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Phil Coulson, Loki

Phil gets home to find Loki crying.

"Hey," he whispers, "what is it, love?"

"It's- my mother, Queen Frigga. She's dead."

"Oh."

Loki calms, eventually, and says he wants to go to her funeral.

"It'll be dangerous."

"I know."

"Be careful."

\---

The funeral is somber. Loki stands with the crowd and takes the moment to mourn.

Odin, as it turns out, has banned travel into or out of the realm. He's not getting out the way he came in.

That's alright. Loki has another escape plan.

\---

Loki comes back two days later, dressed in typical Asgardian clothing covered by a cape and holding a suspicious box.

"What's in the box, Loki?"

"...Puppies?"

"Loki."

"...The... Tesseract?"

"Loki..."

Loki claims he couldn't just leave it there. Phil disagrees.

They keep the Tesseract anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki always steals the Tesseract. It is key to his character. In this essay I will


	2. AOS Interlude 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Phil Coulson

"I want to know how you came back to life."

Raina seems to expect a reaction. He's unimpressed.

She doesn't seem to expect him shattering a window and jumping out.

He did get the hang of teleportation eventually.

May jumps nearly a foot in the air at his appearance, and he's stared at with suspicion for months.

(Worth it.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very subtle. A non suspicious action. They'll all just gloss over this


	3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Natasha Romanov

Natasha roots through the files, after they're on the web. She can't afford to be blindsided again.

Once, she sees a reference to Coulson. But when she does a double-take, it's gone.

She gets a very worrying idea. The worst part is that it's plausible.

The entire "Project TAHITI" file is missing. Whoever is tampering with the files is good.

She looks for Fury, but he's vanished again.

She calls Clint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fun part of this secret is that it's half fake secret but that's also a secret


	4. AOS Interlude 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Grant Ward

"Ward?"

Shit.

Ward, trying to unlock Garrett's cuffs, is about as red-handed as one can get.

Especially since Garrett is the clairvoyant. Very especially.

Oh, he's so fucked.

He shoots at Fitz and gets the handcuffs off, but the gunshots make noise and more people show up- Fitz was wearing a bulletproof vest, too, so it wasn't even a success.

He hears Garrett call for backup. There are more Hydra agents, now, slowly overpowering the SHIELD ones.

He sees someone shoot, and the cry of pain is distinctly Coulson's.

He only has a few seconds to be satisfied before the air... cools?

It's freezing.

Freezing...?

Oh, all his allies have started getting frostbite. That's bad. This is bad.

"Nice of you to join us," Coulson gasps, laying on the floor. He's got a bullet in his gut, but he's smiling like he's just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Who could he even be talking to?!

(If someone had given Ward the next thousand years to guess, he never would've even thought of the person who answered.)

The last Hydra agent drops. Someone tazes Ward.

He's unconscious just before he can hear Loki say "You're welcome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get his ass


	5. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Steve Rogers

Clint is quiet. Laura seems to know why, but she's not saying a word.

Natasha seems to know too. Her and Clint have hushed conversations.

They don't say anything to the others.

Later, fighting robots in Sokovia, Fury shows up with a helicarrier.

"Hey, Fury. We need to talk."

"About what, Barton?"

"You know what."

It's an intriguing conversation, but they don't continue it on the comms.

Though Steve is across the city at the time, everyone hears Clint scream- and then abruptly stop.

Pietro apparently stood in front of some bullets...

But they disappeared. Into thin air. Pietro is fine.

A few robots have mysteriously gone down during the fight. Steve had just assumed he was missing something, but it seems more likely that they have an invisible ally.

Clint, though he says nothing, seems the least happy about this arrangement. It's a hunch, he says.

Natasha seems to agree. The duo eventually get their meeting with Fury, and they leave looking even more pissed than when they went in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With that, "What'd I Miss" is over. This story is now unspoilable.


	6. Captain America: Civil War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Steve Rogers, Clint Barton

After breaking everyone out of the Raft, the team is on edge.

Pietro is the first to ask where, precisely, "Team Cap" will be staying.

There's no clear answer- but Natasha says she has an idea, and Clint agrees.

Steve's not too sure what the idea is, but it's got to be better than nothing.

He's also not sure if the woman who drops into their hideout was supposed to do that. Why's she here, anyway?

"Coulson wanted to offer you a place to stay."

Now that. That is something he's willing to follow up on.

They follow the woman (Melinda May, apparently) to something she calls "The Bus." It doesn't look like any bus he's ever seen, but it's nice nonetheless.

As promised, Coulson is there.

Alive.

Initially, nobody's pleased with this development, but while they're yelling at him, someone comes to his rescue- his girlfriend, apparently.

She's got black hair, green eyes, and her name is Leia Silver.

Clint chokes on air.

Steve doesn't get the joke.

\---

At first, Clint is sure Loki has somehow tricked everyone.

Why would Coulson ever even allow Loki to be near him?

Natasha is in agreement, but the Bus is the best option they have, so they take it. And then they start trailing Loki.

Surely, they'll catch him doing something nefarious. Sabotage, or reporting to someone, or... anything, really.

But the only thing they catch Loki doing is kissing Coulson, which they did _not_ need to see.

Coulson does call him "Loki," though, so at least they know one thing: Loki's not a secret to at least one person.

Actually, after a while, it's pretty clear that Loki is only a secret to the Avengers.  
Nobody else calls him by his actual name, but several make references to magic.

So... Loki is _allowed_ to be here. (And he's dating Coulson. Clint really, really didn't need to see that.)

Eventually, May catches them spying. It was bound to happen eventually.

"So... what happens now?"

"Depends. How much did you see?"

"Things I can never unsee, May."

Her lips twitch.

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Are you going to take over the world?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Then no."

It's weird, to walk into the room rather than be in the vents. Loki pulls him aside to apologize, once.

Clint doesn't say anything back. When Loki apologizes to Natasha, she throws half a bottle of vodka in his face and goes back to what she was doing.

Loki looks a bit put out. He doesn't know everything Clint does- if he did, he'd know that Natasha had accepted his apology.

Loki- and to a lesser extent, May- fit surpringly well into Coulson, Natasha, and Clint's preexisting friendship. Or maybe Natasha and Clint fit surprisingly well into Loki, May and Coulson's.

Clint accepts the apology, eventually. He gets May's help dying Loki's hair bright pink using his shampoo first.

Coulson and Loki have bright pink hair for a few days.

Clint really, really didn't need to know that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're getting saucy now- nah don't worry this is the sauciest it gets


	7. Thor: Ragnarok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Bruce Banner

He wakes up on an alien planet and it's all downhill from there.

Thor is friendly, at least, and he's familiar. The Valkyrie is familiar too, but he doesn't quite know how.

They're going to fight Thor's evil sister, apparently. Alright. Weirder things have happened.

They need someone, Thor says, to destroy the planet. The entire thing.

Bruce, personally, thinks this is overkill.

Still, someone volunteers.

Watching a planet explode isn't something Bruce ever thought he'd see.

Thor sets a course for Earth, and even though this should be perfect, Bruce can't shake the feeling that everything is going to go very, very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the least necessary chapter... but I want to be foreboding and you can't stop me


	8. [REDACTED] Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: None

Power is with the Nova Corps.

Reality is with the Collector.

Mind is in the Vision on Earth.

Time is on Earth as well.

So is Space.

Soul is the only one he's missing.

Nebula recalls the location. It's extracted from her head.

"Fine. I'll do it myself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, see you tomorrow for the next chapter! :)


	9. Avengers: Infinity War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Phil Coulson, Loki

They always keep an ear out for intergalactic news. It's important to Loki, and it's not like Phil's uninterested.

Usually, the news is of little consequence. To them, at least.

Usually.

Today, the news is that someone attacked the Nova Corps, killed half of everyone they saw, and took the Power Stone.

This news is a little more important.

This news is more important because Vision is in danger, and Loki is in danger, and Time is in danger _again,_ and Phil really doesn't want any of those things to get hurt or taken.

Especially Loki.

He's already making plans to go to Wakanda- He's been in contact with T'challa for a while- When some alien shows up in New York.

Loki calls him Ebony Maw, watching the news, and he takes Time and runs just as the Asgardian Refugee ship appears.

That's an entire new host of problems. Phil ignores all of them and goes to Wakanda.

\---

Wakanda is surprisingly crowded.

Vision was attacked- he got away, and came here. Which means the Mind Stone is here.

Loki's presence also brings the Space Stone, not that many know that.

Since pretty much everyone is currently trying to find the Stones, apparently, there's also a team of aliens who call themselves "The Guardians Of The Galaxy."

Two of their members were once Thanos' daughters- and one of them has just escaped being tortured by him. Before she got out, though, Thanos extracted the location of the Soul Stone from her.

That's terrible news, but nobody blames her.

\---

Several galaxies away, Thanos throws Ebony Maw off a cliff.

\---

There's going to be a fight, no way around it.

Everyone is preparing, discarding old arguments and mending fences.

It's not like Barnes and Stark are _getting along,_ but they're not actively trying to kill each other.

Loki-or Leia, as they have somehow fooled even Thor into believing- is worried. Phil comforts him best he can, but...

He's got a bad feeling.

\---

Thanos appears, and the invasion truly begins.

There's fighting, and screaming, and occasionally someone will head to attack Phil and mysteriously vanish.

Phil's not stupid, and he knows Loki like the back of his hand. The protection is appreciated, but the use of the Space Stone is dangerous, _especially_ when the Avengers (and Co) don't know about it.

Vision isn't here- Shuri is trying to remove the stone from him so it can be destroyed.

In a strange way, this fight reminds him of the Battle(s) of New York. No matter how it's going, no matter the odds...

It feels hopeless.

\---

One minute, Phil is fighting. The next, there's a sword to his throat.

Judging by the posture of the one holding it, this isn't an attack-it's a hostage situation.

Ordinarily, he could use magic to escape. That would reveal his abilities, which nearly nobody knows about, but he could.

This is not an ordinary situation.

Thanos walks over, clenched his fist, and Phil can't move.

"Godling."

Loki glances over at the address, and freezes at the sight.

\---

_They've got Phil._

His breath is coming too fast. Not now, not now, he can't afford to panic!

The Tesseract hums in his pocket dimension. Would it work? Is it worth it?

If he takes it out of that pocket dimension, Thanos will take it. There's no getting around that.

"Give me the Tesseract and I will spare his life. If you don't..."

Thanos trails off, the Power Stone gleaming in his gauntlet. Loki can imagine the _or else._

"The Tesseract? Why do you think she's got the Tesseract?"

Rogers.

He doesn't even know who he's defending.

"He does. Give to me or he dies."

Phil locks eyes with him.

"Don't. Don't, I'm not worth it."

_What an idiot. Doesn't he get it?_

"Phil... you're worth everything."

He takes the Tesseract from his pocket dimension. He lets the illusion melt off, too- if he's going to reveal this, it better be dramatic.

(If he's going to die, it better be heroic.)

The assembled heroes wear varying degrees of shocked expressions, but nobody moves a muscle. He wonders if they even can.

Thanos takes the Tesseract, crushes it, and puts Space in his gauntlet.

He motions for Proxima Midnight to let Phil go.

"Any last words?"

"You will never be a Go-"

Thanos reaches for his neck (oh great, this is going to hurt) and someone tackles him, the scenery blurring.

"That... that makes the years I spent learning teleportation worth it."

They're nearly a mile from Thanos now.

Phil's laying on top of him, breathing hard and shaking like a leaf.

"We need to go back."

"I know. I know."

\---

The Avengers are losing. Vision turns the tides for the briefest of moments, until Wanda is forced to destroy him.

Phil and Loki arrive just in time to see Thanos reverse death itself.

He has all the stones.

Thor throws Mjolnir, wreathed in lightning, and... it's not enough.

"You should have gone for the head."

The Snap is a quiet sound, but it echoes.

"...Phil?"

_"Loki-"_

"...I love you."

Phil grabs for him, but he's a few seconds too late.

Phil looks at his hands, empty but for dust.

Some part of him wants to sink to the floor, to collapse, to cry.

Another part of him, though, thinks of laughter and blood and Sundays, and that part of him is angry.

No. _No._

Thanos is gloating when a human latched onto his gauntlet.

Thanos is injured when he realizes what the human is going for.

Thanos is far too late to stop him.

 _Take us back,_ Phil thinks, curling his fingers around Time.

_Let's try this again._

Everything goes green.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, did you think this time loop based fic would just not have any time travel? See you tomorrow... or on Sunday. Whichever comes first.


	10. Avengers: Endgame...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV: Phil Coulson

Phil blinks awake.

He knows, in a strange way, exactly what day it is.

It's still 2017, one week before the Snap, and it's Sunday.

It's Sunday. Again. Oh, he'd never wanted to be back here.

He'd definitely never thought he'd be back here on purpose.

He rolls over in the bed, and there's Loki, blinking sleep from his eyes- and then looking around wildly as the situation sets in- and he knows it was worth it.

"Phil," Loki gasps, "did you-mmf."

It's not an ideal situation, but Loki is alive and well and _here,_ and it was so so worth it.

He's crying, he thinks, and Loki might be crying too, but he's here, he's okay.

"I love you, too."

Yes, he's definitely crying now.

...

After a few minutes, Loki pulls back to actually talk.

"So we're doing this again?"

"If you mean fighting an alien invasion while in a time loop, yes, we are."

"How fun," Loki grumbles.

He says it like he's terribly unhappy, but he still hadn't let go of Phil.

That's alright. Phil doesn't plan on letting go of Loki for a while either.

...

"This reminds me of how we first met."

"Sap."

...

With the way Time Loops work, they could easily take a few weeks off.

They don't, though. The longer you spend in the loop, the looser your grip on things become. Important things. Like morals.

So they're doing this quick- with some mental health breaks, if necessary.

The first course of action is to get ahold of the Time Stone. It should hold the loop, as long as nobody actively stops it, but better safe than sorry.

...

In Wakanda, later, there's only a few minute differences.

Phil has the Time Stone and Ebony Maw is dead.

Thanos arrives all the same, having sacrificed a different child for the Soul Stone.

Phil avoids being taken captive, but Thanos just kills Loki trying to get the Space Stone.

\---

"We're gonna need... so much therapy."

"And what therapist would believe this?"

...

Wakanda is absolutely survivable. It must be.

Thanos is just making that really hard.

Loki digs the Time Stone out of Phil's pocket and tries not to think about the blood drying on it.

\---

"Can we agree that this is worse than 2012?"

"Oh, absolutely, love."

...

After the last few times, a mental health break is absolutely in order- but this isn't New York. They have Infinity Stones, and Thanos isn't considerate enough to leave them be.

\---

"Last time, the problem was just that he caught up with us, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... we do have the Space Stone."

...

Thanos spends a week chasing two people across galaxies.

Loki and Phil spend a week sightseeing.

\---

Telling the Avengers didn't really help in 2012, but that was different. They don't need to get out of the loop- they just need to kill someone.

"We're in a Time Loop."

"What?!"

Loki takes a picture of the Captain's face. The picture won't last long, but he'll enjoy it while he can.

Phil explains the situation, though he leaves out some things-like the previous loop, or Loki's identity.

The plan the Avengers come up with is well thought out, but it doesn't work. Even with an ambush, they don't have enough firepower to defeat Thanos.

He just keeps getting back up.

\---

"I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"The Stones. We don't have enough firepower, true, but I bet the stones do!"

"That... could actually work."

The Stones, as it turns out, damage their wielder. Even with the gauntlet, Phil's body can't handle the power.

\---

"...Did it work? Did you win?"

"It worked, love, but we didn't win."

"How?"

"You died."

...

They abandon the Avengers to their fates and go traveling the galaxy again. It's not for vacation, though, not this time. Now they're looking for ways to survive the use of the Infinity Stones.

 _The power of the stones can be spread through contact,_ one book reads. _The energy will be split evenly between all connected parties._

The only recorded case in recent history is the Guardians.

That's lucky.

\---

The Guardians are useful for knowledge and useless in practice.

They managed, with all of them, to wield just the Power Stone. For about one minute.

One minute is all they really need, but since about five people were required for one stone, this implies that they will need thirty people.

Thirty is... quite a few people, especially since they'll all be trusted with infinite power.

Phil makes a list. Thirty people. How many people does he really, truly trust?

-Phil Coulson  
-Loki  
-Daisy Johnson  
-Melinda May  
-Leo Fitz  
-Jemma Simmons  
-Clint Barton  
-Natasha Romanov

That's... not thirty people. It's eight.

He writes "Nick Fury" on the list, and crosses it off, and puts it back.

They might need a different strategy.

\---

"Hey, do you remember our old plan? For the last loop of New York?"

"Perfectly. Why?"

"It's just... the bit where I 'died.' The plan was to heal myself, and I did. Why can't we do that here?"

"You lose consciousness too quickly, and I don't have enough power to heal you on my own."

"Now hear me out."

...

Time is easy- They've already stolen it, over and over.

Space, of course, they already have.

Mind would originally have been a challenge, but by now Phil has Vision's neurons memorized. He could remove that stone in his sleep.

They'll have to wait for Thanos to bring the other three.

...

Thanos arrives with Reality, Power and Soul. As planned.

The Avengers gather to stop him, but he defeats them. They're a good distraction, though.

Phil already has his three stones.

Loki steals the stones from the gauntlet and throws them to Phil, already running back towards him.

Phil catches them.

The power is blinding. Most people, Phil thinks, would crumble under the pressure.

But he's been here before. He's used to this.

Loki grabs his arm, dropping his illusion-presumably to save energy-and the pain splits.

They're in each other's head. They've always known each other intimately, but this is a whole new level.

_Here we go._

_Ready?_

_Always._

For all the cosmic power behind it, the Snap sounds only like a snap.

Realization dawns on Thanos' face, though it only lasts a moment before he's gone.

Before all of the Outriders are gone, too.

And, very soon, before Phil and Loki are gone.

He drops the stones, collapsing to his knees, and thinks _we did it._

Everything's fuzzy, and it's going gray.

Then something grabs him, and it's warm and familiar and green, and- _Oh._ It's Loki.

He wraps his arms around Loki and focuses entirely on healing him.

A few... minutes? Seconds? Years? Later, the ringing in his ears stops and Phil opens his eyes.

Him and Loki are wrapped around each other like pretzels.

They're sitting in the middle of a crater- not a deep one, but visible.

"Ow."

Phil thinks he might be laughing, or he might be crying, or he might just be _here._

Loki is smiling, too, hesitant like he can't believe it.

Maybe the middle of what was just a battlefield, next to the Infinity Stones, while all the Avengers watch, is a bad time to kiss your boyfriend.

Phil finds that he really doesn't care.

Loki, it seems, doesn't care either.

...

Nobody seems to know what to say. There are some incredulous looks towards Loki, but everyone's too exhausted to say anything.

Phil tumbles into bed with Loki and doesn't bother to think of tomorrow.

...

The Avengers tried to keep them in the palace. Unfortunately for them, magic recovers fast.

Having teleported from their room, Loki takes Phil for a walk.

Wakanda is already beautiful, and the sunrise is amazing.

"Hey, Loki?"

"Yes, love?"

"Do you want to get married?"

"...I'd love to."

A hill in Wakanda, alone but for each other, is a much better time to kiss your boyfriend.

Phil's not doing that, though.

He's kissing his _fiance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have a wedding fic drafted, but this is the end of the main story. Probably. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
